Dinners, Week of August 16

Roasted Eggplant Pesto, over pasta *vegan
Kitchen Sink Mashed Potatoes *vegetarian, if you don't add the bacon 
International Quinoa Salad *vegan
Spicy Chicken Peperonata with Lime and Mint Dressing, possibly with polenta
Indian Spiced Lentils with Chicken (crockpot), over rice *vegetarian minus the chicken

Stay tuned tomorrow for this week's shopping list.


The notation at the bottom of this recipe, about not using the yeast, is not mine.  It was a reader comment from the recipe page, which I included because that's how I plan on making the Pesto, minus the expensive pine nuts.  Picked up some gluten-free, non-brown-rice pasta at Whole Foods while visiting my in-laws last weekend that I'm excited to try with this.

Roasted Eggplant Pesto
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2010/06/roasted-eggplant-pesto.html

Look for sun-dried tomatoes that are not packed in oil but are still soft and flexible. If they seem overly dried out, you will need to soak them in hot water before using.

1 large eggplant
1/4 cup whole almonds
2 sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed)
2 cloves garlic
2 cups basil leaves, lightly packed
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast*
salt  to taste

To Do Ahead:
Preheat oven to 400F. Trim off and discard the stem end of eggplant and cut in half lengthwise.  Place cut-side down on a baking sheet lined with a silicone liner or parchment paper.  Pierce the backs of the eggplant with a fork in a few places.  Bake until completely soft and somewhat collapsed, about 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.  This can be done ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.

At least 2 hours before using (and up to overnight), place almonds in a bowl and cover completely with water.  Allow to soak at room temperature.  Drain water before using.

Just Before Serving:
Put the almonds, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic into food processor and pulse to chop.  Peel the eggplant and add it, the basil, and the nutritional yeast to the processor and process to a coarse puree.  Add salt to taste and pulse to blend.

Add a tablespoon to a serving of warm pasta (if the pesto is too thick to easily coat the pasta, add a little hot water to it), or use as a spread for bread or a dip for crackers or vegetables.   Store in a covered container. 

For best color, either press a sheet of plastic wrap onto the exposed surface or spray with a light film of olive oil.

Servings: 8

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per serving): 52 calories, 22 calories from fat, 2.6g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 12.9mg sodium, 241.1mg potassium, 6.1g carbohydrates, 3.1g fiber, 2.1g sugar, 2.8g protein, 0.6 points.

*This is a very tasty way to spice up pasta. My husband and I like a little kick to our pasta and don’t like nutritional yeast, so here is how I modified your excellent recipe for eggplant pesto. Instead of almonds, I substituted ~ 2 Tbsp of toasted pine nuts, added some dried red pepper flakes, and 4 cloves of garlic. A whir in the blender with the roasted eggplant and basil, then tossed it with pasta. For our tastes, we like a little more pesto than pasta and so the 8 servings were really 4.


This is a recipe I made up last time we were on a restricted diet.  Because bacon makes me feel better.  :)  I'll be fudging the recipe until I make it, which will actually be this week as opposed to next, because I've got some mushrooms I've almost forgotten about that need eating.

Kitchen Sink Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
8 potatoes, diced, skin off or on, your preference
1/2 pound bacon
1 onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 cup peas
3 tablespoons margarine
Broth as needed for moistening

1.  Boil potatoes until tender.
2.  While potatoes are boiling, cook bacon.  Crispy or limpy, whatever floats your boat.  Chop or tear into bite-sized pieces when cool.
3.  At the same time, if you can manage it (and if you're a woman, I'm sure you can ;) ), saute onions, garlic, and mushrooms until soft.
4.  Drain potatoes and mash with margarine.  Add broth as needed if potatoes are too dry.  Stir in onions, garlic, mushrooms and peas.
5.  Eat mashed potato meal.


International Quinoa Salad
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/07/international-quinoa-salad.html

Quinoa:
1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed very well
2 1/4 cups water
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)

Vegetables:
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
2 medium-large tomatoes, finely chopped
kernels of 2 ears of cooked corn (about 1 cup)
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup scallions, thinly sliced
2/3 cup parsley — minced
1/3 cup fresh mint — minced
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced (reserve a few slices for garnish)

Dressing:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (NOT lemon)
3 tablespoons vegetable broth or bean cooking liquid
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste (optional)
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili pepper

To cook the quinoa in a pressure cooker, place it and the water, garlic, and salt in the cooker and lock the lid.
Over high heat, bring to high pressure and cook for one minute. Remove from heat and allow the pressure to come down naturally. Fluff the quinoa and allow it to cool.

Combine all of the vegetables in a large bowl. Add the quinoa and mix well. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad. Mix well and refrigerate until chilled. Taste before serving, and add more lime juice as necessary (you want it to be tangy). Garnish with avocado slices and serve. Makes about 8 servings.

Nutrition (per serving): 239 calories, 55 calories from fat, 6.4g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 366.2mg sodium, 627.7mg potassium, 38.8g carbohydrates, 7.7g fiber, 4g sugar, 9.1g protein, 4.5 points.


Spicy Chicken Peperonata with Lime and Mint Dressing
Bon Appetit, July 2009

Prep: 30 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

4 servings

Ingedients:
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
4 BLSL chicken breast halves (5-6 oz each)
2 bell peppers (preferably 1 red and 1 yellow), cored, seeded and sliced into 1/4-inch-wide strips
1 large fresh poblano chile (also called pasilla), cored, seeded, thinly sliced
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced

Whisk 4 tablespoons oil, lime juice, mint, and coriander in medium bowl.  Season dressing with salt and pepper.  Heat remaining olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Spinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add to skillet and saute until brown on bottom, about 5 minutes.  Turn chicken over.  Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until just cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to platter.

Return skillet to medium-high heat.  Add bell peppers, poblano chile, and onion to same skillet; sprinkle vegetables with salt and pepper.  Toss until tender and just beginning to color, 4 to 5 minutes.  Cover and cook 1 minute.  Mix in 2 tablespoons dressing.  Mound vegetables atop chicken.  Drizzle with remaining dressing and serve.

Serving suggestions: serve atop polenta or in tortillas with avocado and sour cream.


Indian Spiced Lentils with Chicken (crockpot)
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2009/10/indian-spiced-lentils-with-chicken-slow.html



Serves 4, with a bit leftover

The Ingredients:
2 cups lentils (mine were brown)
3 cups chicken broth (you could use veggie)
3 cups water
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 cup diced celery
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon corriander
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can diced chiles (hot or mild, your choice)--no need to drain
1 tablespoon dried parsley (or 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh)
2 large chicken breast halves

The Directions.

Use a 4 to 5 quart slow cooker. Rinse the lentils under cold water until it runs clear. Dump into the slow cooker. Add broth and water. Add diced onion and celery. Add all spices, the garlic, and chiles. Stir to combine.

Lay 2 largeish chicken breast halves on top of the assembled food. My breast halves were frozen solid.

Cover and cook on low for about 7 hours, or on high for about 4. Before serving, remove chicken from the slow cooker, chop it up, and stir back in. Serve over basmati rice with corn tortillas or naan wedges (not gluten free) as scoopers.

Dinners, Week of August 9

Instead of “wraps,” we’ll be using plain old tortillas.  Flour and corn as necessary.    Also, we’ll be using leftover chicken from a whole chicken ($.79/lb) we cooked tonight.

Lime Chicken Tacos with Avocado and Tomato
http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2010/08/deconstructed-guacamole-wraps-or-lime.html

Serves 4

Ingredients
*8 ounces grilled chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces
*1 avocado, diced
*1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
*1/4 cup red onion, minced
*1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
*3 tablespoons lime juice
*2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
*1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
*Freshly ground black pepper
*4 large leaves green lettuce
*4 tortilla wraps

1) In a medium bowl, combine chicken, avocado, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and cilantro. Stir, gently if you have very-ripe avocado.
2) In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Pour on to chicken mixture and stir to combine.
3) Place a few leaves of lettuce on each wrap. Split chicken evenly among wraps. Roll them up. Serve!


I kind of mish-mashed this recipe from 2 different ones I found on Allrecipes.com.  I haven’t tried it out yet; I’ll let you know how it turns out.  We’ll be eating the ribs with raw corn on the cob, which is very plentiful, cheap and yummy right now.

Barbeque Sauce & Soda Ribs (Crockpot)

Ingredients
*10 country style pork ribs
*2 teaspoons minced garlic
*1 lemon, thinly sliced
*1 (18 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce
*6 oz. diet cola or Dr. Pepper soda

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Place in a shallow baking pan. Brown in oven 15 minutes. Turn over, and brown another 15 minutes; drain fat.
3. Add ribs, BBQ sauce, soda, & garlic to crockpot.  Place sliced lemon on top.
4. Cover, and cook on Low 6 to 8 hours, or until ribs are tender.


Tony and Kismet will be eating their burgers with bread for buns, but I’ll just pile my pickles, ketchup and onions directly on top.  The burgers are Jenny-O premade turkey burgers we got on sale last week for $1.99.

Turkey burgers & oven fries

Skinny Fries
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Skinny-Fries/Detail.aspx

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes
Ready In: 55 Minutes
Servings: 3

Ingredients
*3 medium baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch julienned slices
*1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons butter or margarine, melted
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*1/8 teaspoon pepper

1. Place potatoes in a bowl drizzle with butter and toss to coat. Transfer to a lightly greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes until golden brown, turning once. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.


The original recipe, wherever I found it (I forgot, maybe on the BHB?), called for 4 chicken breasts, instead of turkey, but we’ve been on chicken overload the past 2 weeks, so I subbed the incredibly different turkey breast.  Also, instead of buying tortilla chips, I’ll be using extra corn tortillas from the taco meal to make our own chips.

 Tortilla Soup (Crockpot)

Ingredients
*1 pound ground turkey
*2 15-oz. cans black beans, undrained
*2 15-oz. cans Mexican stewed tomatoes or Rotel tomatoes, undrained
*2 cups of frozen sweet corn kernels
*1 cup salsa (whichever kind you prefer)
*4-oz. can chopped green chilies, undrained
*14 1/2-oz. can tomato sauce
*tortilla chips
*2 cups grated Mexican cheese

1.) Brown turkey and drain.
2.) Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese in large slow cooker
3.) Cover. Cook on Low for 8 hours.
4.) To serve, put a handful of chips in each individual soup bowl. Ladle soup over chips. Top with cheese and/or sour cream if desired.

Baked Tortilla Chips
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Tortilla-Chips/Detail.aspx#

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Ready In: 25 Minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients
*1 (12 ounce) package corn tortillas
*1 tablespoon vegetable oil
*3 tablespoons lime juice
*1 teaspoon ground cumin
*1 teaspoon chili powder
*1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cut each tortilla into 8 chip sized wedges and arrange the wedges in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
3. In a mister, combine the oil and lime juice. Mix well and spray each tortilla wedge until slightly moist.
4. Combine the cumin, chili powder and salt in a small bowl and sprinkle on the chips.
5. Bake for about 7 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for another 8 minutes or until the chips are crisp, but not too brown. Serve with salsas, garnishes or guacamole.